Auto Parts: 1999 Buick Regal Fuel Gauge, fuel gauge, buick regal

Question
The fuel gauge on my '99 regal has been all over the place, but lately it has been spiked at "full" although it is probably closer to half tank. what could be causing this problem? someone else said it might have something to do with the fuel pump, but he didn't sound too sure.

Thanks

Answer
    The sender is mounted to the same bracket as the pump.  The float which operates the sender hangs from a little pivot that is attached to the rheostat portion of the sender.  In order to fix it, you have to remove the pump assembly, which means removing the fuel tank from the car.  It could be that the voltage to the sender isn't right, that happened a lot on older cars, but is almost unheard of on these more modern vehicles.  Even though the fuel pump is a couple of hundred dollars; if you take down the tank to look at it, you might as well replace it.  It will save a lot of cussing and work when it goes bad next week.  While you are looking at it, check the voltage at the gauge and then at the sender to make sure there are no shorts in the wiring.